- Spotify adds a shuffle mode for fewer repeats
- Premium users can still switch back to Standard
- Smart Shuffle became optional earlier this year
Spotify’s shuffle feature, it’s fair to say, has been a bit of a mess up until this point: we’ve had algorithms that bring in too many repeats, we’ve had a Smart Shuffle feature that introduces songs that aren’t actually in the playlist, and now Spotify is switching up to shuffle again.
The new standard shuffle mode – previously just called Standard – is changing to be known as Fewer Repeats. It doesn’t take too much detective work to figure out that you should hear fewer repeated songs with this mode enabled.
If you are a Premium subscriber, you can go back to the Standard mixing mode if you prefer. Under Playback on the settings screen in the Spotify app, there is a new option to select Fewer repetitions or Standard.
“More randomness in your playlist can mean you hear the same tracks more often,” says Spotify. “That’s why we recommend sticking with the Fewer Repeats standard, which is designed to keep your listening experience more varied and engaging.”
Unnecessarily complicated?
We first got a hint of this new functionality back in September, when code hidden in the Spotify app pointed to a new shuffle mode that would serve up fewer repeats — which is exactly what we have now.
It followed Spotify giving Premium users the option to turn off Smart Shuffle earlier this year. Smart Shuffle was introduced in 2023, but many users didn’t appreciate the way it inserted songs that weren’t in the current playlist at all.
I have to admit that I’ve never dug too deep into the various Spotify shuffle algorithms, because even though I’m a Premium subscriber, I tend to listen to entire albums from start to finish – in the order the artist intended.
However, it seems that Spotify continues to make shuffle unnecessarily complicated: Shouldn’t it just cycle through every song on a playlist in random order? That way, each track would get the same amount of airtime.
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